Breastfeeding/Bottle

Hi ladies!

I am a first time mommy to be due in August. I plan to try my hardest to breastfeed the baby. I would like to know what type of bottle should I register for which is best when alternating btwn breast & bottle.

I would like my husband and parents to also experience feeding the baby and would love to know what your experiences have been with the bottles. Any recommendations on bottle types would be great!

Re: Breastfeeding/Bottle

The best advice I got was to just buy one or two at first...because you don't know what your LO will prefer. Ours ended up not taking bottles (his first drink was from a sippy cup ~4-5mos, before that it was breast only).

The typical advice is to get a slow flow one so that LO has to work hard to get the milk to come out (so it doesn't seem like a "free lunch" in comparison to nursing).. There are also bottles that have a spoon attachment instead of a nipple, etc.

3/2011 {EBF to 6mos, now BF and BLS, CD, EC'ing since 5mos - in underwear at 11mos, and babywearing} Babywearing International has chapters - see if there's one near you... most have lending libraries!

Re: Breastfeeding/Bottle

I think the best type of bottle to use is one with a slow-flow nipple. I know some moms have good luck with Adiri and Breastflow bottles, which are designed to be more like the breast.

One thing a lot of moms don't realize is that you should wait to introduce a bottle. Ideally, you wait 4-6 weeks, or until breastfeeding is well established. Babies really like bottles, because feeding from a bottle is much easier than feeding from the breast. So you want baby to really master the art of breastfeeding before you put artificial nipples into the mix. A lot of moms intorudice the bottle very early, and then end up struggling with a baby who fusses at the breast or even rejects it outright, because he/she prefers the ease of feeding from a bottle. If dad and grandma and grandpa start saying things like "it's not fair that only you get to feed the baby, how are we supposed to bond?" remind them that with a newborn, their job is to help you succeed at breastfeeding, and that there are ways to bond with a baby besides feeding him. They can do diaper changes, rock baby, wear baby in a sling, give him a bath, cuddle, sing lullabies, etc.. But feeding baby should wait.

Re: Breastfeeding/Bottle

I think the best type of bottle to use is one with a slow-flow nipple. I know some moms have good luck with Adiri and Breastflow bottles, which are designed to be more like the breast.

One thing a lot of moms don't realize is that you should wait to introduce a bottle. Ideally, you wait 4-6 weeks, or until breastfeeding is well established. Babies really like bottles, because feeding from a bottle is much easier than feeding from the breast. So you want baby to really master the art of breastfeeding before you put artificial nipples into the mix. A lot of moms intorudice the bottle very early, and then end up struggling with a baby who fusses at the breast or even rejects it outright, because he/she prefers the ease of feeding from a bottle. If dad and grandma and grandpa start saying things like "it's not fair that only you get to feed the baby, how are we supposed to bond?" remind them that with a newborn, their job is to help you succeed at breastfeeding, and that there are ways to bond with a baby besides feeding him. They can do diaper changes, rock baby, wear baby in a sling, give him a bath, cuddle, sing lullabies, etc.. But feeding baby should wait.

There are soooooo many BETTER ways for your husband and family to bond. You can feed, someone else can rock to sleep. Bathe. Play with. Walk with. My husband did not feed any of our older kids, but he did with our fourth (bottlefed by necessity) and he says there is zero difference in how he bonded with the last versus the older. If anything, he says he is a lot more tired this time because I make him get up and help me sometimes! When breastfeeding, you can do that in your sleep and nobody even needs to get out of bed Just a thought.

Re: Breastfeeding/Bottle

Congratulations! That is exciting. My oldest was an August baby!

Bottles are relatively inexpensive, anyway. I suggest you register for more expensive things and, should you need bottles down the line, you will undoubtedly have tons of incorrect size or just plain ugly baby clothes you can return for a store credit and buy bottles/nipples with that.

One very helpful gift no one ever thinks of-What about asking for folks to pay for an appointment with a local Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC?) Even if breastfeeding goes well from the get go, as it certainly may, you may have questions etc. down the line.

Many companies advertise that their bottles & nipples are ‘the most like the breast’ etc. This is just marketing. If a baby is going to be prone to nipple or flow confusion from being given a bottle, and some are and some are not, it really does not matter what the bottle nipple brand is. Yes, you want the slowest flow nipple, but even those are nothing like breastfeeding. Unnecessary bottles given before breastfeeding is WELL established, several weeks in, are very likely to cause issues. Even bottles introduced much later sometimes cause issues. And unnecessary pumping causes issues as well and frankly, can be quite a chore.

To help you get a great start breastfeeding I suggest you:

1) Look into your local La Leche League and see about attending some meetings. Many LLL groups only have one meeting a month, so look into that now and try to get to as many as you can. If there is a couples or ‘dads welcome’ meeting, suggest your husband attend as well. Any of your female relatives/friends are welcome at any LLL meeting. I do suggest LLL meetings over a breastfeeding class. If you do attend a class, see if there is one taught by a lactation consultant or breastfeeding educator who is also a LLL Leader.

2) Get the book The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (8th edition, 2010) and read at least the first four chapters.

3) Educate yourself about what is normal and expected in the early weeks with a breastfed baby, and what the common pitfalls to nursing are. Breastfeeding is perfectly natural and at least in part instinctual for baby and mom as well, and many moms have little if any difficulty nursing. But unfortunately, many factors, including: modern birth practices, birth interventions, pressure from some medical professionals or family members to unnecessarily supplement, unrealistic expectations of newborn behavior, feeding on schedules, and yes, the expectations of others that baby ‘needs’ or ‘should’ have bottles so they can bond with baby can cause many issues & undermine a moms confidence in her body and her baby.
Exclusively breastfed babies bond just fine with the other important adults in their lives. Trust me, in those early days you will be thankful there is someone willing and able to take baby to comfort them, walk them, sway with them, change them, bathe them, etc.

Re: Breastfeeding/Bottle

I would echo the responses that your family/DH can bond with baby in ways other than feeding.

Looking back, I was very naive with my first child and pumped so my mom could feed him a bottle. It wasn't necessary for them to bond. It may have contributed to my short breastfeeding relationship with him (among other items).

Experienced moms here are giving great advice-focus on breastfeeding and forget about bottles unless you are returning to work/need to use them. Giving baths is great for grandparents to bond with little ones, daddy can wear baby or rock to sleep.

Full time working Mom to 3, DH is my hero as a SAHD:
DS July'09, nursed for 12 weeks
DD1 & DD2 April'11, tandem nursed for 16 months